Animal trap



March 6, 1951 E. BRUST 2,544,295

ANIMAL TRAP Filed Jan. 24, 1946 INVENTOR eZaiwf Patented Mar. 6, 1951 TENT O'LFFlCE 2,544,295 -:-'A\NIMA .L 'LTRAP QEriohBrust, NorvvooidnNaJ.

Application -J anuary 24, 194e,:sa-aa1m. 643x141 J2...Glaims. (owe-e81) E'Ihi'S: inventionzrelates ;tozanimal-traps:having :a zspring-tactuated' jaw-randzaztcooperating' release mechanismmountedzom acbase thefront portion "of which serves"as:orzcomprises:abait holder. In

,particular, the presentiinventioniis concerned;

The principalobje-ct of the 'present, invention= is'the eliminationflof lthezaforementioned; plurality oilinked elements and the-substitution ofja'isin'gle element performing all the.:functions-::of .asaid' plurality of elements. A furtherjobject isza'simplification in the construction of animal traps-of the above mentioned types resulting :inz-a .tconsidqerable reduction iniheiCOSt'Df theirzmanufacture due torsavings inathe:productionzandaassembly of ;parts. Another object :of ztheiainvention (is to rprovide an;animalitranofygreatly, increased sensitivity and: ofcsuch simplezconstruction 'asitopermit the use of standard manufacturingmrocedure employedfin-zmaking conventional traps of this kind. Still another object of the invention is to provide meansi'for varyingithesensitivity of the'&

trap simple. manipulationof a singleeelement.

In its essential aspect the inventiomconsistsiof an animal trap comprising a rockaiolelbase and a spring-actuated jaw mounted thereon, said jaw beingreleased to close theftrap by the downward :motionnof the irontportion rofrsaid base which motioniisztransmittedto a riawereleasin :trigger :by, a2single elementsensitive toisuch motion.

' LOne, modification of .the invention is shown by Way of exampleinzthe acc lm anying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective vi'ewof the trap from the rear p'ortion-of 'the base towards the front portion thereof, the trap being shown in the open or set position,

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the trap taken along line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar vertical section, showing the trap in the closed or sprung position, and

r2 iflcat-ion aOf the esingle actuating eelement ton -.a 4 slightly enlarged-scale.

:Referrirggmow toitheiaboveidescribed drawing, cthe-trap comprises a base:Bxcapablexofirocking about -a ifu-lcrum' F- constituted by two or-nmore staples-or lugs 1-8 aligned :in .-a :straight rowaex- :tending *across the b0tt0mof the abase' .B. Mounted on top aof -.sa-i d v base is-.a;:jaw-d: actuated by the, pressure of awspringfsandretainedagainst :said .-spring--pressureiin the ,.ope,n zposition 'by v:a :trigger rhinged'to thegrba'se by; means 10']? rthe .fstaple ll Tosfacilitate rthersetting ;.ofthe trap, 5a satetyilatch' i2 isgprovided which operates :in -therconventionalmannerlbyibeing adapted-torretain' the jaw v U? inn-the operrpositio n*:during manipgul-ation :of the triggerxil.

Gil

Ardepressioni t4 inthedirontiportioniofthe base :senves tozhold'the baitralthough; such depression "or any-otherbait-holdingzmeansrare not-:essential forethe'1)per-fatten(if .thewtrap. "llnifactzthertrap be elf ect-ively1 usedrwi-thout any rbait by ssimply placing;itaim-the anticipatedrpath of the tanim'al inrsuoh awm'anner that-ithe'animalnvill beinduced 10:1 compelled eto cross rovereor merely utouchxthe :front'portion of ithe base.

' The "position :of ithe'tfulcrum .and the :weight :distribution of'ethexvarious el'ementsrmountedvon 'tOQTOf :the'r'base: area-such that,3-in'fthe open 'or-"set positionrthe rear 'tportion :ofthe'baseB rests-on thersupportingtsuffaoeiwhile the"front:portion: of themase iszsli htly acaiseditherefrom, asshown' in Fig; '1. The.- slightestapressure:oni-saidifront 1201- ration in the: directiomofthe arrow "Ann -Fig. 2 wi1l .-'.dislodge .zthej aw 51' fromits:open positiom asdescribed :lc'elow, .-'and-:thereby 'scau'se a shift in the aforementioned weight distribution towards the 'fifrontrportion of the base, as -'a"1' es i1t of which "thetrapis tilted to' the inoperativeposition shown iini igfili "The j aw "J is released' -and the trap 'sprun g by ethe action d1 -a two-'armed leverL pivotally seoured 'to thetcp of the baseT-Hby "apin' P. "This ilever constitutes the single actuatin'g "element :shown in detailin Fig. 4. saili flfever lnextends upw afdly through an aperture H'rEin the base -B amd isfreely swingable there'in. OneTarm 1630f said l'ever -L -=protru*des above *the base "B and is -piovide'd'with an apei'ture [7- adapted to receive the pinP, and vl ith'a furtheraper'turel'fl adapted to receive the free end of the trigger T. The other arm 19 of the lever L extends longitudinally underneath the front portion of the base 3. its free end 26 resting upon the supporting surface, irrespective of whether the trap is in the opera- 41 a detailed perspective view of o 55 tive position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or in the inoperative position shown in Fig. 3. A recess 2|, accommodating the arm I9, may be provided in the bottom of the base B to insure positive action of the lever L and facilitate packaging of the trap. It is apparent that the lever L may be manufactured in an extremely economical manner by punching two longitudinally spaced holes near one end of a strip of rigid material and flexing such strip transversely along a predetermined line.

The trap functions in the following manner: the jaw J is placed in the operative position by swinging it towards the front of the trap against the pressure of the spring S until it overlies the front portion of the base B where it is held by the trigger T the free end of which is inserted into the aperture I8 provided in the arm I6 of lever L, as shown in Fig. 1. In this open or set position of the trap, the front portion of the base B is raised from the supporting surface due to a slight preponderance of weight on the rear portion of the base, as described above. The arms I6 and I9 01 lever L are in the position indicated in Fig. 2, the arm I6 extending diagonally through the aperture I5 thereby frictionally engaging portions of opposite inner walls of said aperture, and the extreme end 20 of the arm I9 lightly resting on the supporting surface. The load exerted by the tightened spring S is transmitted through the jaw J to the trigger T but the tendency of the latter to swing upwardly under the influence of said load is counteracted by the arm I6 to which the trigger T is releasably secured. Said arm I6 is prevented from yielding to the upward pull of the trigger T by the position of the arm I9, integral with the arm I6 and at least partly bearing against the bottom of the front portion of the base B when the trap is in the open or set position. The arm I6 thus acts like a catch with regard to the trigger T. If now thi delicately balanced open position of the trap is disturbed by the slightest pressure exerted upon the front portion of the base B in the general direction of the arrow A (Fig. 2), as for example by an animal touching the top surface of said front portion, the latter is instantaneously lowered towards the arm I9 or, as it were, the arm I9 is thrust upwardly by the supporting surface towards the bottom of saidfront portion. This upward motion of the arm I9 causes the lever L to move about its pivot, constituted by the pin P, and consequently results in a corresponding motion of the arm I6 towards the rear portion of the base B. As a consequence of such rearward motion, the arm I6 disengages the trigger T by slipping off the free end of the latter, thus permitting the jaw J to swing instantaneously, under the load of the spring S, from the front portion to the rear portion of the base and to assume the position shown in Fig. 3, thereby closing the trap.

Since the upward motion of the arm I9 produces a corresponding rearward motion of the arm I 6 as described above, the trigger T must engage said arm I6 in such a manner that its rearward motion will result in a disengagement of the trigger from the arm I6 to release the jaw J. For this reason, the free end of the trigger T forms a hook H which is open towards the rear of the trap thus permitting the arm I6 to slide off the hook H when moving towards the rear.

By varying the bend of the arm I6, indicated at 22 in Fig. 4, the sensitivity of the trap may be varied in consequence of the resulting lengthening or shortening of the are through which the arm I6 has to move to disengage the trigger. Such bend in the arm I6, however, is not an essential but merely an optional feature of the invention since the trap would function in the same general manner if the arm I6 were straight.

These and other modification may be made in the construction disclosed above without departing. from the principle of my invention, and I therefore do not limit myself to the exact details herein shown and described.

I claim:

1. An animal trap comprising, in combination, a base, a fulcrum on the bottom of said base adapted to rockably engage a supporting surface and to space the front portion of said base from said surface; a spring-actuated jaw adapted to close the trap in cooperation with said front portion, a trigger adapted to retain and release said jaw, and means for releasing said trigger, said means including a two-armed unitary lever, adapted to rest with the extreme end of one of its arms upon said supporting surface and to releasably engage said trigger at the extreme end of the other one of its arms, said base being provided with an oblong, substantially rectangular and relatively narrow aperture permitting said last mentioned arm of said lever to pass through said base, said lever being so disposed relative to said aperture that said last mentioned arm extends diagonally therethrough and frictionally engages portions of opposite inner walls thereof when in the operative position, said lever being adapted to pivot about a point near the lower part of said aperture and to swing freely through a relatively narrow arc within the same when moving into the inoperative position, the angle of the arc of said swinging motion being controlled by the distance between said opposite walls.

2. A trap as claimed in claim 1, in which said trigger-engaging arm of said lever is provided with a retaining pin extending transversely through said arm and across the upper part of said aperture, said pin being of such dimension and configuration to prevent its passage through said aperture.

ERICH BRUST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 744,343 Hooker Nov. 17, 1903 871,809 Marks Nov. 26, 1907 2,260,872 Schmidt Nov. 28, 1941 2,263,161 Brust Nov. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,106 Great Britain of 1899 

